Black Apollo? Martin Bernal\u27s \u3cem\u3eBlack Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization\u3c/em\u3e, volume iii, and Why Race Still Matters
This chapter provides a discussion of Martin Bernal\u27s third volume of Black Athena, published in 2006, with a view toward Bernal\u27s continued relevance in a changing social, political, and intellectual landscape. Previous criticisms of Bernal\u27s work to the contrary notwithstanding, I argue that Bernal examples the scholarly methods for historical inquiries about the past, particularly as they concern cultural heritage and cultural appropriation. The case of an African Apollo might resonate to those interested in African heritage, and even in a postcolonial context where hybridity trumps “origins,” the study of Apollo\u27s African analogs leads us down many productive paths. The chapter examines Bernal\u27s arguments for an African origin of Apollo, like a Black Athena, and the attendant sociocultural and scholarly problems associated with such a claim
